Questions
by Janie3
Summary: Needing to sort things out, Elena wanders to Italy where she finds herself encountered with more questions than she started with...


Title: Questions (1/1)  
  
Author: Janie  
  
Email: SwtAzSugar46@aol.com  
  
Rating: 15  
  
Based on: VD (1-4)  
  
Spoilers: All VD  
  
Summary: Needing to sort things out, Elena wanders to Italy where she finds  
  
herself encountered with more questions than she started with...  
  
Disclaimers: All characters and such belong to LJ Smith. No profit is being  
  
made, this is for entertainment purposes only.  
  
Note: Feedback is LOVED, APPRECIATED AND WANTED! Thanks.  
  
****  
  
  
  
The countryside of Italy was beautiful. But she was too depressed to notice.  
  
It was all starting to sink in. Her sister and Aunt she'd have to shove into  
  
her past like used clothing. It wasn't right.  
  
And Damon gone off again, pushing everything and everyone away as he always  
  
did.  
  
And her, left alone with nothing but eternity.  
  
Stefan. She had him, yes. But that was all she had.  
  
At one time, she would have defiantly said that was enough. But now, she  
  
realized all too painfully, she was starting to question.  
  
She'd begged Stefan to understand her need to leave for a while. She'd just  
  
needed to be away from it all....everything and everyone.  
  
So she had fled, gone off to a place far away from her past and her present  
  
in hopes to understand where her future lay.  
  
But it had been two weeks of being all over Italy, from Fruili Venezia Guilia  
  
to Rome and every other region she'd gotten to and finally she'd settled  
  
here, in Florence. And nothing had become any better.  
  
  
  
Elena sat down beneath a large cypress tree and wept.  
  
  
  
****  
  
  
  
He stood on the balcony of the exquisite, elegant villa that he considered,  
  
for the time being, his home.  
  
He'd lived in someplace similar so long ago. Only that time he hadn't been  
  
alone. Now it was just himself, and oddly, he actually wondered how his  
  
brother was doing. And, of course, how _she_ was doing.  
  
He sighed, running a hand through his hair, a trait that he knew Stefan had  
  
also acquired through genetics.  
  
  
  
He knew he should stop thinking about his brother and about.her. He'd come to  
  
terms with everything he called his past. He'd moved on, put all that behind  
  
him, as he'd advised them to do. He'd gotten over her.  
  
  
  
Or at least he liked to think so.  
  
  
  
Shaking his head he gazed out into the open yard behind his house.  
  
  
  
His eyes closed, letting the night come to him. Crickets, faint laughter, a  
  
soft, warm breeze, murmurs from the streets of town. He took a deep breath.  
  
And almost choked.  
  
  
  
It couldn't be.  
  
  
  
His eyes snapped open, fingers gripping the wood of the railing.  
  
  
  
But it was.  
  
  
  
Stiffening, he knew he couldn't deny it. He knew that presence could  
  
recognize it 60 miles away, could pick it from a crowded room. He could  
  
practically see it.  
  
  
  
And he felt it. Felt her. There. Somewhere close.  
  
  
  
But how had she gotten there? And why had she come? Where was his brother?  
  
Before he could think further, he felt himself tense once more as he realized  
  
something. She was crying, confused, and aching for.something he couldn't  
  
quite place.  
  
  
  
He sighed heavily, moving away from the balcony as he made his decision.  
  
  
  
Her burning presence tore through his walls, his shields. Tore though his  
  
system and reached the part of him he'd tried to ignore, tried so hard to  
  
forget.  
  
  
  
Half of him told him to ignore her as well. To forget her, too, and  
  
everything she brought back. Part of him wanted to block her off, push her  
  
away like everything else.  
  
  
  
But she wasn't everyone else.  
  
  
  
She was Elena.  
  
  
  
And part of him recognized the consequences of what could happen if he let  
  
himself do this, let himself open up once more to things he wanted so  
  
desperately to forget.  
  
  
  
But the other half was winning. The part that wouldn't let him abandon her.  
  
  
  
She needed him and he would go to her.  
  
  
  
****  
  
  
  
Elena drew her knees to her chest, resting her forehead against her knees as  
  
she cried. Her body shook gently, her shoulders were slumped, arms around her  
  
legs.  
  
  
  
She cautiously opened eyes that she had held so tightly shut as she heard a  
  
soft snap of a twig. Lifting her head, she blinked. She instantly bolted  
  
herself up straight, her back pushed roughly against the bark of the tree.  
  
  
  
She drew in a sharp breath.  
  
  
  
"Damon."  
  
  
  
And then blue met midnight black.  
  
  
  
****  
  
  
  
He sat with her, beneath the cypress tree, the breeze of the summer air  
  
lifting her hair so it brushed her cheek.  
  
  
  
He listened as she told him of how she'd decided she needed to leave, to be  
  
by herself.  
  
And how she felt so lost.  
  
  
  
"I thought I was so strong," she said. "I thought I could handle it all. But  
  
I can't bear this anymore, Damon."  
  
  
  
"You're stronger than you think, Elena."  
  
  
  
"Then why am I running?" she asked.  
  
  
  
"You're not. You're getting away from your life for a while. We all need to  
  
do that sometimes," he told her, the latter seemed to be said a bit more  
  
quietly. It made Elena wonder about some things.  
  
  
  
They were silent for a moment.  
  
  
  
  
  
She looked at him, her eyes still slightly red, though the last tears had  
  
long left her cheeks. A strand of his hair blew into his eyes, and without  
  
thinking, Elena's fingers lifted to brush it away. Her skin made contact with  
  
his and he seemed to tense.  
  
  
  
With a strange, sudden feeling of dismay, Elena realized her life could have  
  
been different. And she wondered, as her fingers, seemingly controlled by  
  
unknown forces continued upward into his hair, what that life could have been  
  
like.  
  
  
  
Memories came to her then, as he froze, not moving, his lips parting in a  
  
quick breath and her eyes locked with his.  
  
  
  
Memories of his arms securely around her....Memories of his eyes on her lips,  
  
heated by a dozen feelings....  
  
  
  
She remembered the attraction, being drawn to him, even without Power. And  
  
she remembered all too well, the feeling of his breath on her lips....  
  
  
  
Without thinking, she was leaning towards him, the fingers of both her hands  
  
threading through that silky hair, and his breath seemed to catch. Her lips  
  
met his cheek gently.  
  
  
  
Damon was paralyzed, torn between so many emotions as he felt the softness of  
  
her lips on his face, her cool breath against his cheek. Her lips were  
  
brushing over his face so lightly, like butterfly wings and he wanted to push  
  
her away, to tell her to stop, but it felt so..nice.  
  
  
  
Even as his mind screamed not to he let her continue.  
  
  
  
And as her lips gently pressed against his, he couldn't help but draw her to  
  
him.  
  
  
  
****  
  
  
  
He kissed her then, the taste of her sending his blood surging  
  
through his veins.  
  
Elena felt his hands, a heat against her back, as his arms slipped  
  
around her and then he was kissing her back.  
  
It felt good, and she felt almost drunk off the pleasure from it. She let  
  
her hands wander, down over his firm chest, and down further still, where  
  
they came to a rest on his stomach.  
  
His own hands were feelings the curves and softness he'd yearned to  
  
feel for so long and the feel of her body against him was making it  
  
incredibly hard to stop.  
  
She was so soft, so sweet, so full of passion....  
  
And then it all shattered.  
  
"No." Her face was burning, and she was shaking as she sat back.  
  
"It's wrong and we both know it."  
  
She tore her gaze away and looked at the ground beneath them.  
  
He licked his lips and his heart was pounding, the sound drumming in his  
  
ears.  
  
He ran a hand through his hair, letting out a deep breath.  
  
He wanted to kiss her again, wanted to bathe in those feelings, drown in  
  
the delirium he'd felt moments before.  
  
But he knew for her sake as much as his, that he wouldn't allow it  
  
to happen.  
  
"I'm sorry," he said, and only after he'd spoken did he realize he'd  
  
apologized.  
  
Startled at his sudden apology, she tilted her head to the side.  
  
Then, she smiled.  
  
"Shh.." She placed a finger against his lips.  
  
He shut his eyes, his mind torn between right and wrong amd all  
  
between.  
  
When he opened his eyes again, he watched her for a second.  
  
She smiled, though it wavered, as tears rolled down her flushed cheeks.  
  
His palm met her cheek, wiping tears away with his thumb. He returned her  
  
smile.  
  
"I don't think I'm the one who can help you, Elena. I think," Damon  
  
added, "you know who can."  
  
She slowly nodded, standing. "I'll leave first thing in the morning."  
  
"All right." Damon nodded. "Then I believe this is farewell," he  
  
smirked.  
  
"Looks like it."  
  
For a long moment, they stood in strained and awkward silence. Then,  
  
impulsively she threw her arms around him.  
  
"Thank you."  
  
He held her, admiring the way she fit against him, still slightly  
  
depressed from the shattered moments of before.  
  
"For what?"  
  
"Listening."  
  
She pulled back, stepping away. "Good bye."  
  
He didn't reply, simply watched as she made her way back to where  
  
ever it was that she was staying.  
  
Suddenly, she turned, stood there for a moment, the faint wash of  
  
the moonlight illuminating her in some ethreal glow.  
  
His fists were clenched, breath caught.  
  
And then her lips were against his, in a sudden fury of passion and  
  
desire, and he could smell the faint scent of her....roses or perhaps it was  
  
lavandar....And her hands were in his hair, down his back, leaving burning  
  
fire in their wake, as did her lips.  
  
Again, she pulled back, both of them breathing hard and staring at  
  
one another in sheer amazement.  
  
"What--"  
  
She shook her head. "I had to do that."  
  
He laughed. "Can I request it again?"  
  
She was suddenly serious as she looked up at him. "No. Never again."  
  
He was quiet then. He nodded.  
  
They both knew the dangers of it all. And he knew she had feelings  
  
for him that he were more than purely phsyical, but she still loved his  
  
brother and he couldn't compete with that.  
  
As she turned away he reached out, his fingertips grazing her face.  
  
For an instant he thought she might stay. But then he realized with stunning  
  
clarity he wasn't who she needed.  
  
Both of them knew she had to go back, that it was right. She had  
  
Stefan at home for her and he was the one who could get her through it all.  
  
And as he watched, she didn't turn back.  
  
FIN. 


End file.
